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Australia eager to ‘go one better’ in Perth after ‘bloody tough’ Cape Town SVNS
By Finn Morton
Walking off the field and down the tunnel at Dubai’s The Sevens Stadium, away from the watchful gaze of fans, the Australian men’s sevens team were visibly disappointed after another loss.
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Australia, who had been crowned world champions as recently as the 2021/22 World Series, were knocked out in the Dubai SVNS quarter-finals by eventual champions South Africa.
But there was no denying the result was a fair indication of where the team was at that very moment. “We scraped through,” sevens star Josh Turner told RugbyPass that Sunday morning.
Losses to Ireland and Argentina had set the Aussies up for a must-win pool clash with Spain, and while they were victorious, the men in gold weren’t exactly taking the sevens world by storm.
Instead, as coach John Manenti said, they were left “chasing” the pack during an underwhelming start to the 2023/24 season out in the Dubai desert.
“We had quite a few guys that were coming back from not playing or injuries so there was a bit of rust getting up to speed and then we probably lost a bit of confidence,” Manenti told Rugby.com.au.
“We were up against Ireland and probably should’ve won and then made a few mistakes before bouncing into a hard game that meant we had to win our third to have any hope of going through.
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“We were always chasing.”
But one week is an age in rugby sevens. The opportunity to start anew in Cape Town beckoned, and the Aussies certainly made the most of it with a series of eye-catching performances.
Just one week after their shortcomings in Dubai, the Aussies opened their account in the Western Cape with a promising 20-point win over Olympics-bound Samoa.
New Zealand taught their Trans-Tasman rivals a lesson, though, as the All Blacks Sevens ran up a cricket score on a hot Saturday afternoon.
But the Aussies didn’t throw in the towel. A win over Canada ensured their spot in the knockout rounds, which is where they made their mark against more fancied opponents.
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A 28-nil thumping of hosts South Africa – yes, the same team who bested them in the quarters a week earlier – and a 17-point win over Fiji booked Australia’s place in the Cape Town SVNS final.
“We had probably two of our best performances I can remember in beating South Africa and Fiji,” Manenti said.
“I think the final w probably extended ourselves a little in the sense that we had played the starter big minutes so we had a fairly young group around the main starters so probably eight or nine players played the bulk of the tournament.
“We learnt a lot from it and the boys are pretty keen to go one better in Perth. It’s certainly nice to be playing for medals and it’s such a bloody tough tournament, every game matters because there’s bonus points and for/against. It’s not even an off game, you have an off two or three minutes and you’re in trouble.
“That’s the way it’s going to be all year for the Olympics and every tournament so at last we know by the time we go to Paris, we’re going to be well-versed in how hard it is.
“We’ve had a really strong training block so far, (so) hopefully that continues and we can keep delivering top-four performances and being in the medal mix.”
While the Australians were beaten by SVNS Series leaders Argentina in that decider, they showed a wealth of fight and heart which goes a long way in this sport.
Ahead of the series’ third stop in Australia – more specifically, Perth – the Aussie men will be eager to go one better in front of their home supporters at HBF Park from January 26 to 28.
Tickets are on sale for the upcoming Perth SVNS at HBF Park and can be bought HERE.
